I don't know if anybody here saw me, but I was standing dead-center the whole time, olive green t-shirt, black jeans, semi-long messy brown hair and glasses. Anyway, Porcupine Tree did a great job, but like some of you, I definitely would have enjoyed their set a lot more if I knew more of their older material. Opeth played brilliantly and Mikael was a very charismatic, entertaining guy with the crowd...and yes, very chatty. Heh, I told some tall, skinny guy in a white sleeveless top in front of me "it's like we're all his friends" or something like that. Yes, I was as giddy as a school girl with her first crush. Whoever that guy was and I were bobbing our heads and grooving along the whole time. It's just great to be in the company of people that appreciate the music as much as you do. When someone was shouting Face of Melinda, Mikael just said "waaiiit for it"; he was holding back a smile a few times while playing throughout the concert. I think he even pointed to the guy who was shouting and said "now we're gonna play your favorite song!" or something like that.
Damnation seemed to take on a whole new life hearing it live, and they really blew me away with playing it so flawlessly and inspired. Yes, it was funny when Mikael started playing Still Day Beneath the Sun and messed up "ehh wrong chord". And I didn't think it was too bad of a tease to play a little bit of Harvest; it's not like they went into it as a full band from the beginning. Mikael just started playing and singing it by himself from just before the chorus and let the audience finish off the vocal line solo. The highlights of the night for me were a few of the last songs played: To Bid You Farewell and Face of Melinda were amazing to hear live and the crowd was really into those two, especially towards the end of both songs. And I don't care if I sound like a fanboy here, I'd have to say that the end of both of those songs were a couple of the most moving musical experiences of my life. It was also a nice change of pace to hear Mike sing a little bit more free-form and energetic for some parts of Solider of Fortune.
Anywho, who was that guy with the glasses on the right side of the balcony that kept yelling "Opeth fucking rules!" and tried to get the crowd pumped the entire time? Hehe, in the beginning people kept telling him to shut up; it was pretty funny.
Afterwards, I waited with three of my friends and a crowd of about 20 to meet Opeth and get autographs. I don't know how long we waited, but Mikael and Peter came out after a little while and chatted it up, signed things, and let people take pictures with them. Mikael seemed a little tired but was very nice and conversational with all of us. My friends and I got to shake his hand, get autographs and I reassured him they certainly held their own against Porcupine Tree (he said something about matching up against a great band like Porcupine Tree during the show).
All in all it was a really pleasant experience and it was cool just to listen to other fans talk it up with him. One kid with black hair and glasses mustve said "you're the best, Mike" like three times, LOL. And someone else mentioned something about his ex-gf painting some big opeth thing and saying " i don't even care if you decide to burn it in the fireplace" or something like that.
When we were walking back towards the car, I spotted the other guitarist from Porcupine Tree all by himself on the sidewalk and stopped to talk to him for a couple minutes. He told me that he's from Tampa bay and when he was telling all his friends about the amazing band he's in, at first they were all like "yeah sure, you're alllllways in some band" hehe. He was really chatty and conversational with my three friends and I, asking our names, and saying to keep in touch through their website and all. My friend Matt said "Man, you guys should be huge!" And he was just sayin "ehh we're getting there, we're getting there" And we were both agreeing they just need more exposure over here.
It was really an amazing experience and I don't think I'll ever see a better show in my life. To me, it was equally as good as the heavy show, just with a completely different kind of vibe, energy, and crowd connection.
omg I would die 
What a nice guy. 
